1. No trolling or plaguing
2. In round one accept
3. In second round, post your rebuttals/arguments
4. Rebuttals always come before the main argument
5. Third round continue rebuttals and arguments
6. Round four, rebut and conclude your argument
7. In round four no new arguments to be made
8. If you are going to post resources, post them in the comment section
9. Maximum of 10 resources
10. Have fun debating
11. Don't be a sore looser

Family is not more important than friends because you can choose your friends but you're stuck with your family. We argue that friends are necessary for our emotional and social well being throughout life. Family is important when you are young because they physically look after you, but as you get older - and that is most of your life - family takes a backseat to friends, as we don't need them to look after us. In fact, family is the cause of many problems, and we are stuck with them

In my first round I will be talk about the emotional benefits of friends and in my second round I will talk about the social benefits of friends. And in my third round I will sum up my arguments.

And now to begin my case. Friends are like counsellors - friends share deepest secrets with each other - the secrets that nobody knows not even the family. Friends feel relaxed together - they participate in activities together, they share similar interests and spend lots of time together. Because of this trust develops - you develop confidence, whereas in families there is often competition between siblings for the parents attention. Your sibling often dobs on you to get the upper hand. You sibling may have totally different interests, but you're stuck with them - but friends and compatibility, you choose.

Secondly, friends are generally in the same age group as you and understand the complications in you're life. They too are going through exams, bullying, puberty, romance, marriage, divorce, parenthood etc. They share your experiences and are more tolerant of how you handle things than family are - who are more likely to boss you, preach at you and put you down for your problems. I'd choose a friend for support but I'm stuck with my family. Lastly, you choose friends that understand you, they get you. They may not be exactly like but they respect you, and don't take you for granted. They don't tell you to do chores or expect you to be brilliant. Because you choose each other, you respect each other - more so than if you are stuck with a family member you don't get along with.

Family is not more important than friends, simply because you don't get to choose them - you're stuck with what you're born with - no say in the matter - no control. But friends, you have a choice here, you can pick the ones that make you happy, support you and share you're ups and downs. They are human superglue. I choose friends forever.

This concludes my first round of this debate. I'd like to thank my opponent for accepting this debate challenge. I appreciate any comments and votes. Feel free to challenge me to future debates. Thankyou once again!

In the name of Allah!
Peace, ladies and gentlemen
First i want to thank my contender and I respect your opinion ;) :)

Family is much important than friends because family is the first start of any person. It's true that we can't choose our families but we can consider it as a gift of life.

To begin with the first argument. Family is what gives life to the human being and his first education, it gives love and respect!
the man's first word of the child is MAMA or DADA - mother and father- so he is related to his family in a way or another. simply the family is the first school of us and the family members are the best friends of us! Whereas friends are just a heavy weight on us -most of them- also the man kind is not perfect so he might not choose wisely his friends which will lead him to a blocked way and to wrong paths.

Secondly the family represent the reality of life and honesty, we are nothing without family, the family supports you in every moment of life ,in the first day of school , the first steps of you, in the night of the exams , in marriage day... so they are stick to you more than you do, in the first day of school the teacher called you with your family name, when you became a football player the write your family name in the T-shirt. So your family needs you more than you need it!
Every human has a part of his family in his DNA but he has nothing from his friends!

To sum up family is everything you could have a million friends but you will have just one family also the friends have and end just focus in the word friENDS so family is much much important. And as Michael J. Fox said:"Family is not an important thing. It's everything."

May I point that because your family are legally responsible for you, you take each other for granted. You are much more likely to be mean to your family than you friends.

Also, family do not give unconditional love. Statistics show that 1 in 3 families suffer from family abuse. To add, every 3 hours, in Australia, a woman is admitted to hospital, due to family violence.

Parents are often coming to the rescue when it comes to problems at school, such as, bullying. Schools across the world, already provide lessons on preventing problems, such as these. Family are not always around when we become parents, ourselves, and we need to learn to cope with these problems ourselves. Rather than helicopter family members, coming to the rescue.

And now to continue my argument,
Friends enhance our social life in many ways that your family doesn't. Friends can expose you to different cultures and religions and lifestyles. Having a friend of a different faith to your own encourages you to become more knowledgeable and more tolerant. Rather than sticking to your own kind and closing your mind, a friend of a different faith expresses you to the real world full of different people and different beliefs. This encourages you to become more tolerant, more thinking, more caring for all people not just your own people. You can choose to have an open outlook by choosing your friends but may be stuck with your family's narrow perspective - as we see with certain religious groups like the Amish or many rigid, fundamental, groups.

Friends can expose you to a more multicultural life. We can have friends from different cultures and so learn to enjoy a richer life full of new food, new clothes,. new lifestyles, new stories, new perspectives. Sure your family could take you to a Vietnamese restaurant but having a Vietnamese friend and eating at their house is far more authentic. You meet their family, you talk to the mother about the food, you talk about life in Vietnam, maybe, about their reason for coming here, maybe, about changes they made. This is far richer than going to a Vietnamese restaurant with your family and talking about the same boring stuff again. I choose my friends but I'm stuck with my family.

Friends can increase your social life by introducing you to their friends. This is great because now you have an even greater choice of people in your circle - people who can introduce to new activities like joining them at a concert you may never of considered. You might travel overseas with them and share a lifetime of memories and adventures. Because you choose your friends choose someone who is like minded and will more likely enjoy your travels than being stuck with a family dragging you to places THEY want to visit.

Friends are more fun. They are the company you choose. Families want to protect you by building a fence around you, but a friend builds the gate opening to a bigger, more exciting, more tolerant, more life enhancing world. And for this reason I prefer to choose my friends rather than be stuck with my family.

Thanks for accepting this challenge and good luck for the future of this debate.

In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful!
First, in this round i may use religious argument (Islamic ones)!

Family has the greatest part of creating a better person, and i believe that not all families in Australia or the world are having problems, though friends are source of problems ( not all of them of course), also many bad habits are taken from friends for example, 30 % of Arabic young men had their first cigaret from their friends which they took it from another friend! so that makes them a heavy weight which will make us suffer in life! Meanwhile family won't let you do that and if you tried to do it they'll try to make you stop it!

Secondly, family ( Islamic one specially) have a duty to their children because raising a good child is creating a better world which means a better society , we have an Arabic proverb says :" Tell me who's your friend and I'll tell you who you are" so if my friends was a bad one then i am bad too, and that is unfair for me!

Many friendships are likely will end someday, and the friend will be lost, but why? well that because they'll have to marry and make their own families so the end of friendships are because family and that's a great sign of the importance of family much more important than friends, because the friend had leaved us to make a family! Friendships don't last for ever even if we want to keep them!

Thirdly, In Islamic religion our prophet Mohamed (pbuh) said :"The best of you is the best to his family and I am the best amongst you to my family" and that makes the family comes first in the Islamic society and don't forget that Muslim's population is over than 1.8 billion! also the Prophet said "Do not ever sever your relationship with a member of your family even if he severs his relationship with you." and he never mentioned friends though he had many friends in his life!

Finally i want to say Thank you for this great debate, it's an amazing subject and i am glad that i accepted your challenge good luck, also you are too young and when you grow up you will understand what i said and you will expire many kinds of friendships and as i always say may god protect me from my friend because i can protect myself from my enemies ! Many friends are traitors so be careful!

Of course, I respect your religious beliefs, but may I say I am honestly a bit confused by your arguments. Therefore, I cannot produce any rebuttals in this round.

And now to conclude my case,
In my first round, I pointed out that most of your life you are not a child so you don't need your family to look after you. As you get older friends naturally become more important then family in influencing your emotional life. Friends become your counsellor, your psychologist, your confidant, your mentor (sometimes). The person who is on your side not the brother or sister who wants mummy's attention and sacrifices you for it. A friend supports you emotionally - that's why we choose them rather than being stuck with a jealous family member.

I also stated that because friends are usually round about the same age, they go through life's dramas together at similar times - dramas like puberty, marriage, having babies. So friends are more tolerant of your problems and less judgmental and preachy - because they're probably experiencing the same issues. None of the"when I was young, I..." lectures from parents. That's why people gravitate to friends than being stuck around critical families. Friends are less likely to take you for granted.

In my second round I told you how friends enhance your social life. They possibly expose you to different beliefs which broadens your outlook and lets you feel comfortable, opening your mind to all sorts of people rather than just your own people - your family.

I also talked about friend introducing you to a diverse multicultural lifestyle - about having authentic experiences with friends from different countries.

What about friends of friends? How wonderful to meet more friends through your friends. More friends to choose to travel with, have fun with, build a history of memories with. Friends make life better.

And so ladies and gentlemen - blood may be thicker than water - but friends aren't like water, slipping between our fingers. They're more like glue, sticking and holding on because we choose them. For better to be able to choose your friends than be stuck with you're family.

And this concludes my part in this debate! Once again, thank you for accepting this debate, I wish good luck for the votes to come in and may the best debater win! :)

In the Name of Allah
Peace at you all!
You proved that you are not that easy!

To conclude my debate and the last round:
Family is much important to me and all my life i found only my family watching my back and supporting me. Never found a friend supports me, my friends are too few ( maybe 1 or 2 that i trust), since i was a kid i got bullied because of my red hair so i never had a friend in my childhood, the only one that i had is my family.

You said that blood is thicker than water, that's true and we can live without both of them for a while but the family is like the air we can't live without it at all! In Islam we say to our friends "brothers" so family is much important to our world! Friends are useless and they are just pain in the head (sometimes) i can live without my friends ,and i did that, but i can't live without my family. I believe in Blood, Honor and Pride, i can't find these three in friends. I don't know how Australians or someone else consider their friends but in our country and in this time don't trust your friend

Any way my arguments sounds weird and maybe you don't understand me, don't blame me my english is not perfect as much as yours! I think you deserve to win ! but we'll let it to the judge !

Thank you for this once again and good luck to you and we'll have another debates together! And i'll will in them all ;)

But let me give you an advise keep your friends close to you but not too close, don't give them a blind trust and watch your back by yourself! Have a good life!

Reasons for voting decision: Spelling, grammar and conduct was equal on both sides. Neither side used sources. Pro argued that family supports you and that since you came in life family was there with you. Con rebutted that brothers/sisters compete with you for attention. Con argued that friends give us exposure to new cultures and that friends support you as well. Con also argued that friends don't give chores and don't judge you, as they are in the same age group, they know the problems you are facing, and that new friends can be found through friends of friend. Lastly con argued that you don't choose family and are stuck with them, but friends can be chosen. Pro argued that friendships end, but that doesn't mean their importance is lesser. It was a close-call, but I think con had better arguments.

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